Studentsoul put on an original musical in August that attracted more than 1000 people to its six performances.
The musical, written and directed by student Malcolm Gordon, took two years from inspiration to performance.
More than 50 studentsoul members were involved in “Finding Heaven on Ward 4”, which tells the story of a student who gets into a fight, is taken to hospital and becomes convinced he has died and gone to heaven. His interactions with staff and patients play out issues of delusion and redemption.
Malcolm says the primary motivation for the production was to draw in those on the fringes of the studentsoul community, particularly younger students. “Doing stuff is how you build relationships.”
A secondary motivation was fundraising for the Watoto Children’s Ministry in Uganda, for which studentsoul has the long-term goal of building a house.
Local churches gave the musical great support, Malcolm says, with five performances in Dunedin and one in Oamaru.
The musical was intended to be something to which students could feel comfortable bringing non-church friends while still conveying a subtle Christian them.
To produce something created and performed solely by studentsoul members was inspirational, Malcolm says.
“Unbelievable and inspirational don’t do it justice. It was overwhelming.”
While people in Dunedin are talking about a sequel for 2007, creating a new musical in less than a year will be a definite challenge, he says.